What Do Employers Actually Want?
If you’re entering tech without prior experience, you might wonder what employers expect from entry-level candidates. The answer is usually not what people assume.
Employers hiring for entry-level roles aren’t looking for someone who knows everything. They’re looking for someone who can learn, contribute, and grow.
Willingness to Learn Beats Pretending to Know
Technology changes fast. Employers know no one arrives knowing everything—and they don’t expect you to.
What makes a strong impression is curiosity—asking thoughtful questions about how things work. Honesty matters too—being clear about what you know and what you’re still learning. And initiative stands out—showing you’ll seek out information rather than wait to be told.
Being honest about still learning often works in your favor. Employers prefer people who grow and adapt over people who try to appear flawless.
Transferable Skills Are Real Currency
Skills from previous jobs apply directly to tech roles. Employers value people who can communicate clearly, explaining ideas, writing documentation, and working with non-technical stakeholders. They value teamwork—collaborating across departments, handling feedback, and coordinating with others. Problem-solving matters—troubleshooting issues, finding workarounds, and staying calm under pressure. And organization is essential—managing tasks, tracking details, and following through.
When you connect your past experience to these skills, employers see potential. Someone who managed a retail team understands coordination and customer communication. Someone who worked in administration knows processes and documentation.
Independence and Problem-Solving
Employers appreciate candidates who try to solve problems before asking for help. This doesn’t mean knowing all the answers—it means being resourceful.
Examples that stand out in interviews include teaching yourself a new tool to solve a problem, researching solutions independently before escalating, and staying persistent when something doesn’t work the first time.
Entry-level roles aren’t passive. They’re about learning actively and contributing where you can.
Why a Portfolio Helps
For entry-level candidates, a portfolio shows skills rather than just describes them. It doesn’t need to be extensive—what matters is demonstrating how you think and approach problems.
In StartSteps programs, you work on projects that become portfolio pieces. This could include SAP system configurations, ServiceNow workflow implementations, and cloud infrastructure setups with AWS.
Having concrete projects to discuss makes interviews less abstract. You can walk through your decisions and what you learned.
Attitude Often Outweighs Experience
In entry-level hiring, employers are investing in people. A positive attitude, openness to feedback, and reliability often matter more than technical gaps.
Candidates who stand out are curious about the work, coachable in that they take feedback seriously, and reliable in that they show up and follow through.
These qualities aren’t tied to prior experience. They’re about how you approach work.
How StartSteps Prepares You
Our programs are designed to build both technical skills and the soft skills employers look for. Programs run five months, full-time, and are taught in English.
The selection of programs include: SAP Finance, SAP EWM, ServiceNow, and AWS and Databricks Cloud/Data Engineering. In addition to technical training, soft skills development covering communication and professional presence is also included.
If you’re in Germany and eligible for a Bildungsgutschein, programs can be 100% funded through the Agentur für Arbeit or Jobcenter.
Next Steps
If you’re preparing to enter tech and want to understand what employers expect, visit startsteps.org to learn more about our programs and book a free consultation.